Niger launches air surveillance on Libyan border

NIAMEY Aug 22 (Reuters) - Niger has begun air surveillance
operations along its northern border with Libya to monitor
possible infiltration of armed groups fleeing the conflict in
the neighbouring country, Niger military sources said.

The air patrols started after authorities said they had
seized nearly 60 vehicles and a dismantled helicopter smuggled
out of Libya last week, underscoring the threat of the conflict
spilling over into weakly controlled neighbours to the south.

Authorities in the region are concerned some forces in
Libya's conflict, including Gaddafi's loyalists and mercenaries
from Niger and Mali fighting there, could cross the largely
unpatrolled Sahel region into their territory.

Libyan rebel fighters have entered the capital Tripoli in a
coordinated move that has routed forces loyal to leader Muammar
Gaddafi.

"We are closely watching the developments in Libya and in
that context, we have ongoing aerial observation operations over
the region of Agadez so as to be ready to deal with any
infiltration," an officer of the West African nation's military
intelligence said late on Sunday, requesting not to be named.

Niger's government was unreachable for comments.

Another military source said authorities were concerned the
fighting could reach the southern Libyan city of Sebha, pushing
Gaddafi loyalists towards Niger, while criminals could see an
opportunity to get their hands on abandoned heavy weapons.

Governments of the region that includes Mali and Mauritania
believe fighters of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) have
received convoys of weapons including SA-7 missiles plundered
from Gaddafi's abandoned arms caches.

Niger authorities say the Agadez region has become a central
point of smuggled weapons and other goods looted from Libya.

Last week, police said they seized 60 unmarked vehicles and
a dismantled helicopter which most probably came from Libya.

"For the helicopter, I can say that it was already
dismantled when it arrived here, but I do not know if it is
still operational, or if they are just parts of a downed
aircraft that has been recovered," a custom official said.
(Reporting by Abdoulaye Massalatchi; Writing by Bate Felix;
Editing by David Lewis and Mark Heinrich)